Off Radar
by NoName-chan
Summary: Lenalee always liked to remain off radar, hiding in the shadows, nobody noticing her presence. She was successful, too. That is, until one day, when she overheard two strange men talking about a deadly secret. Now she has been thrown into the thick of things, fighting danger, heists, and betrayal. Will she figure out the truth in time? Or will she face the ultimate consequence?


**NoName-chan: Hey there! ^^ So here's another multi-chapter fic. I was actually just going through the Word Documents on my computer to put them in two folders- fanfiction and school stuff- when I found the first five paragraphs of this. I think I wrote this a couple years ago when I was going through a huge Mystery Novel phase (Yes, this is a mystery fic :D), long before I even knew what DGM was. But when I read what I'd already written, I thought "Wow, this would make an interesting fanfiction." So I decided to continue it, and here we are 24 hours later.  
Lenalee: Wow, this is the first fanfic you've posted with me as the main character! :D Even if I am incredibly OOC.  
Allen: That's not true. Weren't you and I both the main characters in that One-shot, "The Karaoke Plan"?  
Lenalee: Kind of, I guess. But this is the first story where I'm THE main character.  
Lavi: This is also the first fic NoName-chan has posted that's set in an AU.  
Kanda: Che. Can we just get on with this already?  
Allen: Alright. Lavi, care to do the Disclaimer?  
Lavi: NoName-chan does not own DGM.**

**_…._**

You know, most of the time, you want to just stay off radar. When people notice you, bad things happen. And because of this simple fact, I'm stuck, tied to a chair, back-to-back with my best friend, as the water slowly begins to rise around us.

I've been here for about an hour- maybe two. At first, I was afraid. All I wanted was to know the truth. I came so close, too! And then he betrayed me. Just thinking about him makes me want to scream! But, now, I am just determined. Determined to get Ruby and myself out of here with our lives. Determined to get revenge on those who betrayed me. Determined to find out the truth. So I am facing fear, betrayal, curiosity, and determination.

But I am getting way ahead of myself. I should probably start from the beginning.

I guess this all started the second I got myself noticed. I was in class. Algebra. Mr. Otte was giving us another review for our upcoming exams. Mr. Otte was an older man. White hair that thinned out more and more by the day completed with a scruffy beard of the same color. The irony was that he loved clams. Clam chowder or even clams just by themselves, you name it. And since his teacher name was Otte, everybody just called him the Otter.

So, anyway, I sat at my desk in the far corner at the back of the classroom while the Otter rambled on about Polynomials. I'd mastered the skills and rules of the complicated combinations of numbers and variables weeks ago when they'd first been taught, so I found myself staring blankly at the whiteboard, pretending to listen as I drifted off into my own world. As usual, nobody noticed a thing. Not that I minded. In fact, that was how I preferred it. Keeping to myself, nobody taking any mind to my presence. It was bliss.

I doodled mindlessly in my notebook, pretending to take notes, while I waited for the bell to ring signaling the end of the school day. Several boring minutes passed before it finally did. I made quick work of gathering my classroom materials and stuffing them into my black backpack before slinging the bag over my shoulder and heading out the door into the crowded hallway. I kept close to the wall, hiding myself in as many shadows as possible. I didn't speak. I didn't look at anybody. I shut out all of the noise around me. This way I could go unnoticed as I always did.

I was always like this, right from the beginning. I'd never been one to enjoy attention, so I always stayed off radar. I didn't confide in anybody except for my older brother when I was young. When I entered Preschool and began my education, I found myself with the same habits, avoiding anybody unfamiliar- which was everybody around me. Soon enough, my existence became forgotten, and my presence unnoticed. This continued throughout the rest of my pre-schooling, then through Elementary and Middle school. So here I was now, on my Sophomore year in High school, with few people knowing so much as my name.

I snuck through several hallways, nobody giving me so much as a sideways glance, until I reached a door on the side of the school. Most people would've exited the school through the front entrance, but being the antisocial girl I was, I preferred a quieter route. Nobody minded- not that they even noticed in the first place. I walked in silence down an empty path that wove around to the back of the school then into the forest nearby. I liked to take this way because it was typically vacant, and therefore more relaxing to me, even though it was a bit longer of a route to get home. Peaceful silence hung in the air as I walked along the narrow dirt road that had originally been cleared in the woods for hiking purposes, but was rarely used, carefully stepping over stray tree roots and shallow ditches until a familiar voice sounded behind me.

"Hey, Lenalee!" it called cheerfully. I turned around to see the smiling face of my best friend, Ruby. Although about 99% of the human race never acknowledged my existence, Ruby was the rare exception. Around 5th grade, she'd moved to town and started going to my Middle school. Although her sweet energetic personality practically had everyone else on their knees begging for friendship, I'd been the first she'd actually paid any mind to. According to her now, I stood out from the rest of the crowd because I'd never given her anything more than a brief glance. For some reason, my coldness toward her just made her determined to befriend me. For the remainder of the school year, she'd brushed off the rest of our classmates and always came to talk to me. Despite my silence and unwillingness to be anywhere near the cheerful brunette, she'd continued to persist. At first, I found her quite annoying, but I eventually began to accept, then even enjoy her presence. By the end of the school year, Ruby had managed to get me to open up enough to her to consider us best friends, and we've been inseparable ever since.

I smiled for the first time that day at the sight of the girl. "Hey, Ruby!" I greeted in return.

"Wanna come over to my house for a bit?" she asked, her large brown eyes sparkling with hope.

"Sure," I agreed eagerly. Even though I usually liked to be alone, Ruby was somebody I actually loved to spend time with. Although we didn't share any classes together this year, we often spent our afternoons and weekends together. "Just let me text my brother to let him know where I am." I reached into the pocket of my dark purple sweatshirt to grab my cell phone, only to find the space empty. My happy smile quickly faded to a troubled frown. I then tried the pockets of my black skinny jeans, but came up with the same results.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, her cheerful smile having been replaced by a worried frown.

"I can't find my cell phone," I explained, frantically searching my pockets again.

"Maybe it's in your backpack?" she suggested. I checked. Nothing.

"I had it this morning….." I stated, once again checking my pockets. Then it occurred to me. "It must have fallen out of my pocket at school!" I exclaimed. Ruby giggled softly.

"Calm down, Lenalee, it's okay. Why don't you go back and get it real quick, and I'll meet you over at my house?" I smiled at her gratefully for understanding and nodded my head before running back the way I'd come to retrieve my cell phone. It wasn't too long before the school came back into view. I didn't waste any time staring and immediately rushed through the side door I'd exited through maybe twenty minutes beforehand. Luckily, the school had already cleared out for the day, so I was able to enter in silence. I finally slowed to a walk as I pondered all of the possible places I may have dropped the phone. After brief consideration, I decided to start where I'd last been and walked to my Algebra classroom. I slowly peeked through the doorway to the Otter's classroom, which I'd found left wide open, to find it empty. I then glanced over at my desk, and sitting atop the smooth table-like surface, almost teasingly, was my cell phone. I looked around one last time to be sure that I was alone before hurriedly walking over to my desk and scooping up the phone. After shoving the small silver object into the large pocket of my sweatshirt, I ran from the room back toward my choice exit once again.

That's when I heard it. A loud crash that probably echoed throughout the entire building, but sounded close by. Looking back on it now, I really should've just ignored it and left. Then I could've enjoyed a happy afternoon with Ruby, and neither of us would be in this mess now. But for whatever reason, curiosity had overwhelmed my common sense, so I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt up over my head, hiding as much of my face as possible, and ran toward the source of the sound.

I soon found what I'd been looking for. After running down one short corridor and making a sharp left, I spotted two figures. I hid myself behind the corner, only peeking out enough to watch the events taking place. A large man who looked to be maybe 20 with spiked brown hair and huge muscled arms was pinning somebody to a set of lockers, snarling angrily.

"C-Chaoji. Please," a relatively high pitched boy's voice pleaded. I assumed it belonged to the victim. It dawned on me what this probably was- bullying. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence at my school, Grayman High. The teachers weren't exactly watchful about this sort of thing. Either that, or they just didn't care. Though I suppose if I worked at a large public high school and had to monitor over a thousand students, I'd grow a bit weary, too. Especially if the students all seemed bent on making each other's lives miserable. I was actually about to walk away from the event when the larger man, "Chaoji," said something that was never meant for my ears. In fact, if I had just walked away a second sooner, I never would've even heard it, and everything could've remained peaceful in my life.

"There's no way in hell I can let you leave. You're in way too deep. If you go now, the secret could be revealed. If someone- ANYONE- were to find out about the heist or your involvement, we'll be in some deep shit," I halted. Heist? What was he talking about? I returned to my post behind the corner just in time to hear the smaller boy gulp.

"I-I won't tell anyone! I promise! Nobody will ever find out!" he frantically vowed, but by the look of things, Chaoji wasn't listening to a word.

"This is your last chance," he growled. "You can stay and play your part, or you can face the consequences." I wasn't sure exactly what he meant by "consequences," but I had a feeling he was saying "stay or die."

Judging by his sigh of defeat, I guessed that the boy realized this, too. "Okay, okay, I'll carry out until the end of this, but I want to leave as soon as the job is done." Seemingly content with this for the time being, Chaoji smirked and took a half step back. Although he didn't completely release the boy, I finally got a glimpse of his face.

I nearly gasped at the boy's appearance. Although he seemed to be about my age- maybe a little bit younger. Probably about 15- based off of his height and general appearance, his hair was white! And not like silvery white like that of an elderly person's, it was pure white! As if that feature wasn't odd enough, then there were his eyes. They were silver, like chrome. This was almost stranger than his hair color. THAT could've been dyed or bleached or something. Though I supposed having unnaturally silver eyes could be the result of colored contacts. Yeah, that had to be it. Hair dye and contacts. Though as strange as it was, I had a feeling that it wasn't. Then, finally, to top of the most unique look I'd ever seen in my entire life, there was an oddly-shaped red scar that ran over his left eye. There was absolutely no way that wasn't human made! There was no way an accident could've crafted such a precise line of that shape, let alone the pentacle that hung upside down above the boy's eyebrow.

Who exactly were these people? Were they part of a gang? That seemed likely. Between the threatening attitude of Chaoji and the more than odd appearance of the boy, I couldn't even think of another possibility. But what were they talking about? They were saying something about a secret or a heist or something, and by the looks of it, this whole situation had to do with the boy wanting no part of it. What was it? I had a feeling this whole thing was incredibly dangerous to anyone who got involved.

My thoughts were interrupted when Chaoji spoke again. "I think I'm still going to have to teach you a little lesson about loyalty, runt." The boy's silver eyes shot wide with fear as Chaoji raised his fist. I watched as the trembling teen closed his eyes and prepared for the blow.

Even now, I have no explanation for what happened next. One moment, I was hidden behind the corner, watching the terrible scene take place. Then the next thing I knew, I was standing between the boy and Chaoji, my foot raised high in the air, with the larger man unconscious on the ground in front of me, head bleeding.

I blinked. What had just happened? How did I get there? It took me several moments to piece together the last few moments. Suddenly, horror washed over me. I had literally knocked Chaoji out by kicking him over the head! Why did I do that?! To defend this boy that I didn't even know?! There was absolutely no reason for me to get myself involved in their fight. So why had I? I still don't know!

I turned around to look at the boy, who was staring at me, seemingly almost as shocked as I was. We stared at each other in bewilderment for several moments before he spoke.

"Who are you-? Why did you-? How much did you hear?" he asked. I blinked at him, trying to figure out how to answer these questions. I opened my mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out except the breath that I didn't know I had been holding. I blinked at him again, and he continued to stare at me in question.

"I- I-" I stuttered before rationality finally set back in again. There was no way I could let these people know who I was- especially after I'd just eavesdropped on a conversation like that and knocked one of them out! I had a feeling that if these people were to know my identity, it would practically be a death sentence. So I jumped to my last defense- I ran like hell.

At first I heard footsteps after me, as well as some shouts and "WAIT!"s, but I didn't stop for even a moment and soon found myself free of pursuers. I sprinted through the halls, out the door, then down the forest path I always took, and didn't stop until I was home. When I finally reached my house, I immediately shot through the front door and locked it behind me. Only then did I stop running and considered what had just happened. I had heard two probable gang members discussing something about a deadly secret and a huge heist. That was big enough news in itself. I probably- no, DEFINITELY- should have just walked away when I heard that and avoided any involvement. But then I'd knocked that Chaoji guy out cold. There was no way they were going to forget me now! Even though I'd never told that boy my name, he'd probably memorized my face upon a first glance! If they found me, who knew what they would do?! I was in huge danger!

But then I remembered something. I'd kept my face hidden with the hood of my sweatshirt the whole time, hadn't I? Maybe that boy hadn't even seen my face. A wave of relief coursed through my veins for a few seconds before it was replaced by cautiousness. Judging by the fact that Chaoji had attacked the white haired boy at my school, the younger was probably a student there. He had no doubt figured out that I was as well. So he'll probably be keeping an eye out for me. Even if he hadn't seen my face, there were other ways he could spot me. For example, he could've memorized my clothing or backpack or even my shoes. I decided it would be best to take as many precautions as possible. So after changing into a pair of white jeans and a red hoodie, I stuffed the previously visible clothing in the very back of my bedroom closet where it would hopefully never see the light of day again. I also discarded my shoes and backpack that way, replacing them with different copies as well. I considered what else the boy may have seen, but after deciding that there was really no other things he could've noticed when he saw me, I shut the closet and laid back on my bed.

I then remembered my plans with Ruby. However, after the shock I'd been given, I decided that it may be better to stay in the house for the rest of the day. Plus there was always the possibility that the silver eyed boy had seen the direction I'd run and was searching the area. I pulled out my cell phone to send a text message to Ruby explaining why I couldn't go over that day. I considered telling her what had happened, but then decided that I didn't want to risk it. If my precautions failed, I didn't want Ruby to be in danger as well because I'd been stupid enough to get myself involved in something potentially life-threatening. So instead of telling her what had happened, I just told her that I'd started feeling nauseous and decided to go home. She responded with "_Aww you poor thing ! L I hope you feel better soon!" _ I told her that I'd probably feel better by the next morning before placing my phone on my nightstand.

I sat on my bed for several minutes, trying to decide what my best next move would be. I then concluded that I'd done all I could for the time being. The only thing I could do from there would be to attend school the next day as if nothing had never happened. It was in my best interest to try to keep out of it. Even if it did seem that those people were plotting something huge, I needed to just do whatever I could to forget that I had ever heard anything. If I was successful, then maybe I could keep myself of radar, and all could remain peaceful.

Little did I know, I'd already been noticed. And there was no way out of it now.

**_Chapter 1 End_**

**_…._**

**NoName-chan: And there you have it! What do you think? Good? Bad? Suicide-inducing?  
Kanda: Che.  
NoName-chan: …..  
Lenalee: This story makes me feel smart c:  
Allen: This story makes me feel like a criminal T.T  
Lavi: This story makes me feel like NoName-chan needs to hurry up and give me a scene.  
NoName-chan: Until next time!**


End file.
